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<title>The Flirtatious &amp; the Oblivious (HSC High School [aka Stickholm High] AU Multi-Chapter Oneshot) by Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27826969">The Flirtatious &amp; the Oblivious (HSC High School [aka Stickholm High] AU Multi-Chapter Oneshot)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345/pseuds/Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345'>Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bruiseberry’s Other HSC AUs &amp; Ships [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, American Sign Language, And Galeforce and Petrov are the only (known) adults around in this insanity, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys Kissing, Burt and Charles are still brothers but they’re long-lost and don’t know it, Charles is the popular kid and sits with the other popular kids at lunch, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Established Friendship, Established Relationship, Flirtatious x Oblivious Trope, Flirty(?) Charles, Food Fight, Frustrated Ellie (who practically begs Henry to confess already), Galeforce is Charles’ and Burt’s grandfather, Gen, Henry is the unpopular kid and vibes with the other unpopular kids, I do have some headcanons that a friend has shared with me (as well as some of my own), I fear writing with my very soul, I shall dub this AU, I’m still kinda inexperienced with Henry Stickmin, Jacob Rose is Ellie’s brother but he isn’t mentioned here, Love Confessions, M/M, Mended Friendship, Mentions of bullying and exclusion, Multi-Chapter Oneshot, Mutual Pining, Nudging in the right direction, Oblivious (but not really) Henry, One Shot, Other, Past Miscommunication and Separation, Popular Kid x Unpopular Kid Trope, Pre-Relationship, Role Changes and Aged Down Characters, Rupert is a good friend to Charles, Sam Turner is Sven’s sibling but they are also not mentioned, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin, Slow Burn (of sorts), Stickholm High, That’s the tag for this AU by the way (in case anyone wants it), The tags are fucked up but they’re all there (I’m very sorry about that and it drives me nuts), The “Toppat Clan” are just a bunch of gremlins who cause trouble just for the sake of it, The “Wall” and the “government” aren’t really things here, This is gonna be a hot mess and I probably won’t like the result, Toxic Friends and bullies, Why Did I Write This?, and Dave helps out Henry, and didn’t want the draft to expire, as well as others who don’t really fall into any category, because I became unmotivated after the first part, but I’m gonna try my best, but if it isn’t, but it’ll at least be something, but most of them don’t apply here, but that’s obviously not true in this scenario, childhood flashbacks, friend reunion, if not an apology for being inactive on here for so long, inspired by instagram, it might not be perfect, now onto the ACTUAL tags, so boom you’re gonna get 3 parts instead, so is Galeforce, then that’s fine, yet here I am writing fanfics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:09:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27826969</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345/pseuds/Cunning_Creator_Cat_12345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Made possible by my Discord family and Instagram</p><p>Essentially,</p><p>• Charles is *this close* || to giving up (even though he doesn’t want to) on trying to get Henry’s attention in the only way he thinks will work (aka, terrible flirting [because he doesn’t really have it in him]), but thankfully Rupert is there to help out and encourage him;</p><p>• Henry is aware of what Charles is trying to do and has been doing, but pretends to be oblivious in order to prevent himself from “being tricked” and “heartbroken” (he is wary due to what happened between them in the past, even though the people who caused it are long gone), however Dave swoops in to get him out of his funk;</p><p>• Ellie just wants their friendship to be patched up, the mistakes of the past mended (and perhaps forgiven), and both of her boys happy and hopefully together (even if it might mean her being pushed aside and forgotten);</p><p>• A food fight breaks out, causing Henry and Charles to run into each other (and poor Galeforce and Petrov have to clean up the mess);</p><p>• And the author is tired and just wants to get back to doing stuff at their own pace (and promises that not all of their works’ summaries will be in this format).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Burt Curtis &amp; Sven Svensson, Charles Calvin &amp; Burt Curtis, Charles Calvin &amp; Ellie Rose, Charles Calvin &amp; Ellie Rose &amp; Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin &amp; Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin &amp; Hubert Galeforce, Charles Calvin &amp; Rupert Price, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Dave Panpa &amp; Henry Stickmin, Dave Panpa/Rupert Price, Earrings &amp; Carol Cross, Ellie Rose &amp; Henry Stickmin, Reginald Copperbottom &amp; Right Hand Man, Thomas Chestershire &amp; Frederick Muenster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bruiseberry’s Other HSC AUs &amp; Ships [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Flirtatious &amp; the Oblivious (HSC High School [aka Stickholm High] AU Multi-Chapter Oneshot)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This whole thing was inspired by an Instagram post that got shared in my internet family’s Discord server, and it was about an underrated/underused(?) trope that’s essentially the reverse of another trope where an unpopular kid (the one who flirts and drops hints) having a crush on a popular kid (the one who’s oblivious as fuck). </p><p>Now, you could make the argument that both are overused and overrated, and I would definitely get where you’re coming from, but my internet mother/parent (looking at you, Exe) was so enthralled with it that I couldn’t help but get inspired to write something about it (despite the fact I’m already busy with plotting out my main AU and what not).</p><p>And yes, in case you were wondering, this is bruise_berry42069 from Instagram, and Lee/Discord for those who know me from other places. And if this is your first (or not) time that you are reading my content, then I welcome you all the same!</p><p>Please feel free to get inspired from this as much as you wish (or not, I ain’t the boss of you), since I don’t currently plan on developing this AU beyond this oneshot! You don’t have to credit me if you don’t want to, but you can if you desire so.</p><p>Also, consider this as a warmup for me before I go ham on developing and writing out the Flowers AU on here (if you’re familiar with my Instagram page, then you [should] know what I’m talking about; if not, then I suppose you’ll find out soon enough).</p><p>Oh, and as you can probably imagine, just to give you a heads up, the next fics aren’t gonna be so kid-friendly (and so the reign of the General Audiences rating majority of my fics reaches its end, mwahahaha [or for the most part anyway]).</p><p>Anyways, I hope you enjoy this oneshot (even though there’s a good chance everyone’s gonna be OOC) :D!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon, which wouldn’t have been too bothersome to very many people besides Charles Calvin, who was reminded of more than one unpleasant memory by the depressing weather. Said boy unconsciously rapped his fingers on the cafeteria table as his mind and expression clouded with anxiety, sadness, defeat, and regret. Even though it went against every fiber of his characteristic perseverance and patience, as well as what he himself wanted, he couldn’t help but silently admit to being very close to giving up on his endeavors to grab the attention of his old friend, Henry Stickmin, whom he’d developed a crush on that had only snowballed without his knowledge or consent. Granted, the way Charles had been doing so hadn’t been very successful, given that it wasn’t in his nature to be very flirtatious. Plus, it felt <em>very</em> awkward to flirt with someone who he hadn’t actually had a real conversation with in <em>years</em>, even more so if he counted in the reason <em>why </em>that was - which lead back to the reason why today’s weather in particular was a reminder of the not too happy past to the headphones-wearing teen.</p><p>Far too familiar guilt and sorrow flowed through him as memories of taunting, hateful words, manipulation, screaming, crying, lonely hollowness, and walking home alone newly friendless in the rain echoed in his mind. A burning wetness threatened to escape Charles’ squeezed-shut eyes as his fists clenched and his body began to slightly tremble, their owner having already given up trying to be subtle with his inner turmoil, deeming that no one around him at the moment would care. <em>“And</em><em> why would they?”</em> He asked himself. <em>“After all this time of staying here with them just so I wouldn’t be alone after what happened with... <strong>us</strong>, why would they ever care about someone who doesn’t even want to be here, let alone deserve to be in the company of anyone?” </em>Charles’ fingernails were starting to dig into the palms of his hands with how tight his fists had become. <em>“Why am I even trying to get Henry’s attention anymore, let alone fucking <strong>flirting</strong> with him, when I know damn well that he and Ellie are never gonna forgive me, much less him ever even feeling the same way I do for hi</em><em>-“</em></p><p>“Oi Charlie, you okay, mate?” A familiar gruff voice interrupted, causing Charles to be startled into looking at the concerned amber-golden eyes of the vocal interception’s owner, Rupert Price, who was standing before him in front of the table. “You... ain’t lookin’ so good, bud.” “How could you tell?” Charles sarcastically forced out with an unintended wobbly undertone of distress, knowing full well that out of all the kids he (begrudgingly; less so with the former and a few others) hung out with, Rupert knew him best and would therefore be able to recognize when something was bothering the headphones-wearing boy. The dark-haired teenager knew this and took it into stride as he spoke back. “You always get like that whenever you think of your friends and the nasty stuff those terrible kids did to you lot.” Charles briefly opened his mouth as if to attempt to deny his friend’s words, but let it fall shut when he couldn’t find it in himself to do so, confirming Rupert’s suspicions. Said teen then came around to Charles’ side of the table, sat next to him, and put a hand of reassurance on his shoulder.</p><p>“Listen Charles,” Rupert began. “you can’t let what those awful brats did to you guys hold you back from trying to make things better for yourselves-“ “It’s not that, Rupert,” Charles intercepted, atypical for someone of his mannerisms. “and besides, it’s my fault that it hasn’t gotten any better between us. I’m the one who didn’t explain what happened because I thought they didn’t want to hear it. I’m the one who didn’t reach out when they needed me most because I thought they didn’t want to see or talk to me again. I’m the one who was stupid enough to let those bastards anywhere near them in the first place. And... I’m the one who’s been beating around the bush by fucking <em>flirting </em>with Henry because I don’t want to make him upset and just want him to know that I’m still here instead of actually trying to talk things out-” He was cut off by Rupert suddenly lunging from his seat to hug him.</p><p>“I’m gonna have to stop you right there, Charlie boy.” Charles, even in his downward spiral, fought the urge to snicker at the loved-hated shared secret of a nickname as he listened to what Rupert had to say. “You couldn’t have possibly known that those kids were gonna manipulate you like that. They had me fooled too, believe it or not, so we’re in the same boat here.” Charles blinked in surprise at his words, not having previously known that Rupert had been around in those awful days, which the latter noticed and elaborated on. “Granted, we didn’t know each other back then, but if I’d even had a hint of them wanting to do what they did, I’d have kicked their all asses before they got the chance,” he continued. “but that’s not the point I’m tryna make here. You might not have made the best decisions back then, or now with... <em>whatever </em>it is that you call your attempts at flirting, but that doesn’t make your intentions and reasons any less valid. I know all that might be hard to be believe, but it’s true. After all...” Rupert leaned in to whisper into his friend’s ear, making sure to gently nudge a side of the headphones out of the way. “People tend to do crazy things when they care about each other a lot. And I bet Henry cares a lot about you too, in his own way.”</p><p>Charles once again found himself at a loss for words as Rupert gave him one last firm yet gentle squeeze in his embrace before the latter let go of him and stood from his seat. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said while intently looking into his friend’s ruby-red eyes. “I’m headin' off to get some help and make sure that you don’t run away from each other anymore after today, ‘cuz this has gone on for far too long.” Rupert swiftly scanned the cafeteria until he found the people he was looking for, upon which a grin of assurance spread across his face. “And puttin' it off any longer, right here and now when you have the opportunity to fix it,” he punctuated it with glimmering concern in his eyes. “is only gonna hurt you lot even more. Now... don’t go anywhere until I tell you to, okay?” Charles was more than a bit surprised at that, but he had connected the dots well into their conversation and had a good idea of what his friend was planning, so he nodded to confirm his compliance, having a considerable amount of trust in Rupert. </p><p>Rupert gave his headphones-wearing friend his signature wink (coupled with a confident smile and finger guns) before walking away and subsequently disappearing into the crowd of young adults and teenagers alike. Charles, in all the years of repressing his pain and memories for the sake of “moving on,” at last let himself have a reason to hope for something he’d long thought he could never have back. A little voice in his head also whispered the possibility of him confessing to Henry and having his feelings returned, but he shoved it down for the moment. He’d told himself many times that he’d be more than grateful to be friends with Ellie and Henry again, even if there was a chance that he would be heartbroken in the process (which would more than likely mean that an awkward apology for the “flirting” was in order), and he still stuck to his word. He’d get to that later, though. For now, he had a friend to wait on — and potentially an interaction, at the very least, with either or both Ellie and Henry to look forward to.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*awkwardly looks at the other three drafts* I SWEAR, this was supposed to be the only oneshot before Flowers, but umm... it obviously didn’t work out like that-</p><p>Oh, and this oneshot is getting to be way too long for me to be motivated enough to keep it all in one part while retaining the writing quality and not going past the draft expiration date, so this bad boy is gonna be three chapters long instead!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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